How to Open a Film Cassette

In order to develop black and white film in your own darkroom, it is important to know how to open the film's cassette or canister, whether it be a cassette you loaded yourself or one that you purchased from a store. Always open the canister in complete darkness, no matter which cassette you use.

Things You'll Need

• Bottle opener
• Scissors
• Changing bag

Instructions

1. Lay out the tools you need to work with before extracting the film from the cassette. This way you know where everything is when you turn off the lights.

2. Turn off the lights, and use the bottle opener to pry off the flat end of the store-bought film cassette.

3. Take out the film. Either cut the leader off the end with a pair of scissors, or tear it off to create a nice, straight edge so it can fit into the slot of the film developing reel.

4. Pop off the top of a self-loading cassette by hitting the end with the spool protrusion on a flat surface. Then follow the procedure outlined in Step 3.

5. Use a changing bag if you feel really adept and want to unload your film cassette before you get into your darkroom,

Tips & Warnings

• Do not turn on a darkroom safe light when opening the film cassettes. This process must be done in complete darkness or in a changing bag.